Houdini

I saw the woman crouching down.
I heard her talking but no one was in sight.
She was walking very low as if she was looking for something.
There was absolutely nothing anywhere near her.

Her voice was very quiet as if she did not want anyone to hear her.
I wondered if she needed help.
As I walked closer to her, she was looking under the clothing displays.
Whoever she was talking to was nowhere to be found.

She was trying to hold merchandise in her hands without a shopping cart.
She probably assumed she would be in and out of the store quickly.
She never dreamed that her quick trip to the store would be a search and rescue mission.
I was intrigued.

Come out of there, she said firmly but quietly.
I looked but there was no one there.
What am I going to do with you? She said to no one.
I saw her move piles of pants that were displayed there.

She laid the piles neatly on the floor.
She was determined to retrieve whoever it was that was among the piles.
Now I could see.
It was a little boy.

He was so perfectly hidden, there was no way anyone would ever find him.
What amazed me was how he got in there in the first place.
Nothing was disturbed.
No clothes had fallen on the floor.

He was laying down right in the middle of the display on the bottom shelf.
He must had shimmied his way in there in such a way as to not disturb anything.
He was laying perfectly still.
His clothes blended in with the clothes that were on display.

He was not coming out of there without a fight.
Neither the little boy or his mother ever raised their voice.
She expertly removed all the clothes that were in front of him.
His hiding place was exposed.

I saw her pull him out of hiding.
I heard her reprimand him firmly but quietly.
I heard him giggling.
He was so proud of himself for hiding so well.

As the mother was trying to hold onto her son, she was also putting the pants back on the shelf.
There were no tears.
There was no yelling.
I could only imagine the conversation they would have when they were in the car by themselves.

Houdini, I said to myself.
I still could not figure out how the little boy hid himself so perfectly.
Somehow he got on the bottom shelf without disturbing any clothes at all.
I wondered if he cleverly hid himself at home as well.

My friend has an adorable dog.
She likes to take him on long walks.
She bought him a harness type leash thinking it would be more secure.
She told me about one of their walks.

Her dog is a Goldendoodle.
The retriever part of him enjoys the water.
Living near a lake, she thought the harness type leash would be better.
Her dog is able to wiggle his body out of that harness; Houdini, she calls him.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:  “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

We are like the little boy who hid himself so perfectly.
We try to hide our sin from God.
We do theological back flips and Houdini type escapes as we attempt to justify ourselves.
I’m not all that bad, we tell ourselves as we try to wiggle out of the shame we feel down deep.

No Houdini type escape will release us from that condemnation.
We will be found out.
We will be discovered.
We can hide our sin from everyone but God.

The One who is our judge is also our Savior.
No amount of theological back flips or wiggling out of that which binds us will suffice.
The shame is there no matter how desperately we try to hide it.
There is one way to be free; it is not something we are able to do ourselves.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)
There is no condemnation because Jesus was condemned for us.
We do not have to wiggle out of the chains that bind us because Jesus took those chains for us.
We do not have to hide our sin because Jesus took that sin upon Himself on the cross.

When we come to Jesus and trust in Him alone for our salvation, we are free.
The shame we feel because our sin has been exposed is gone.
We are fully known and fully loved by the One who was condemned for us.
When God the Father see us who are in Christ, we are accepted because of Jesus.

God the Father sees the scars that His Son incurred for us and deems us, ACCEPTED.
If we are in Christ, God the Father does not see our sin, rather He sees his Son.
No Houdini tactics are necessary.
Our sin has been found out, but it is completely covered by the Lamb of God who took our place.

Accepted.
Forgiven.
Saved.
Redeemed.

Rejoice that your chains are gone.
No need to escape on your own.
Jesus has set us free if we come to Him in faith.
Amen.